The amount of postage received from the office, after deducting the
necessary expenses, including the postmaster's salary, was, for the
first year after its establishment, about twelve dollars, or three
dollars for three months. In the year 1802 it was thirty-six dollars, or
nine dollars for three months, a large proportional increase. At this
time the mail came once a week only, and was brought by the stage-coach.
Samuel Dana, the first postmaster, was a prominent lawyer at the time of
his appointment. He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Dana, of Groton,
and born in this town, June 26, 1767. He occupied a high position in the
community, and exerted a wide influence in the neighborhood. At a later
period he was president of the Massachusetts Senate, a member of
Congress, and finally chief-justice of the circuit court of common
pleas. He died at Charlestown, on November 20, 1835.
Judge Dana kept the post-office in his own office, which was in the same
building as that of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, another noted lawyer.
These eminent men were on opposite sides of the same entry; and they
were generally on opposite sides of all important cases in the northern
part of Middlesex County. The building stood on the site of Governor
Boutwell's house, and is still remembered as the medical office of the
venerable Dr. Amos Bancroft. It was afterward moved away, and now stands
near the railway-station, where it is occupied as a dwelling-house.
Judge Dana held the office during four years, and he was succeeded by
William M. Richardson, Esq., afterward the chief-justice of the superior
court of New Hampshire. Mr. Richardson was a graduate of Harvard College
in the class of 1797, and at the time of his appointment as postmaster
had recently finished his professional studies in Groton, under the
guidance of Judge Dana. After his admission to the bar, Mr. Richardson
entered into partnership with his former instructor, succeeding him as
postmaster in July, 1804; and the office was still kept in the same
building. During Judge Richardson's term, the net revenue to the
department rose from nine dollars to about twenty-eight dollars for
three months. He held the position nearly eight years, and was followed
by Abraham Moore, who was commissioned on January 31, 1812.
Mr. Moore was a native of Bolton, Massachusetts, where he was born on
January 5, 1785. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1806,
and studied law at Groton with the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, and after
his admission to the bar settled here as a lawyer. His office was on
the site of the north end of Gerrish's block, and it was here that the
post-office was kept. During his administration the average income from
the office was about thirty-three dollars, for the quarter. In the
summer of 1815, Mr. Moore resigned the position and removed to Boston.
Eliphalet Wheeler, who kept the store now occupied by Mr. Gerrish, was
appointed in Mr. Moore's stead, and the post-office was transferred to
his place of business. He, however, was not commissioned, owing, it is
thought, to his political views; and Major James Lewis, who was sound
in his politics, received the appointment in his stead. Major Lewis,
retained Mr. Wheeler for a short time as his assistant, and during this
period the duties were performed by him in his own store. Shortly
afterward Caleb Butler, Esq., was appointed the assistant, and he
continued to hold the position for eight years. During this time the
business was carried on in Mr. Butler's law office, and the revenue to
the government reached the sum of fifty dollars a quarter. His office
was then in a small building,--just south of Mr. Hoar's tavern,--which
was moved away about the year 1820, and taken to the lot where Colonel
Needham's house now stands, at the corner of Main and Hollis Streets. It
was fitted up as a dwelling, and subsequently moved away again. At this
time the old store of Mr. Brazer, who had previously died, was brought
from over the way, and occupied by Mr. Butler, on the site of his former
office.
On July 1, 1826, Mr. Butler, who had been Major Lewis's assistant for
many years, and performed most of the duties of the office, was
commissioned postmaster.
Mr. Butler was a native of Pelham, New Hampshire, where he was born on
September 13, 1776, and a graduate of Dartmouth College, in the class of
1800. He had been the preceptor of Groton Academy for some years, and
was widely known as a critical scholar. He had previously studied law
with the Honorable Luther Lawrence, of Groton, though his subsequent
practice was more in drawing up papers and settling estates than in
attendance at courts. His name is now identified with the town as its
historian. During his term of office as postmaster, the revenue rose
from fifty dollars to one hundred and ten dollars a quarter. He held the
position nearly thirteen years, to the entire satisfaction of the
public; but for political heresy was removed on January 15, 1839, when
Henry Woods was commissioned as his successor.
Mr. Woods held the office until his death, which occurred on January 12,
1841; and he was followed by the Honorable George S. Boutwell, since the
Governor of the Commonwealth and a member of the United States Senate.
During the administration of Mr. Woods and Mr. Boutwell, the office was
kept in the brick store, opposite to the present High School.
Upon the change in the administration of the National Government,
Mr. Butler was reinstated in office, and commissioned on April 15, 1841.
He continued to hold the position until December 21, 1846, when he was
again removed for political reasons. Mr. Butler was a most obliging man,
and his removal was received by the public with general regret. During
his two terms he filled the office for more than eighteen years, a
longer period than has fallen to the lot of any other postmaster of
the town. Near the end of his service a material change was made in the
rate of postage on letters; and in his History (page 251) he thus
comments on it:--
The experiment of a cheap rate was put upon trial. From May 14, 1841, to
December 31, 1844, the net revenue averaged one hundred and twenty-four
dollars and seventy-one cents per quarter. Under the new law, for the
first year and a half, the revenue has been one hundred and four dollars
and seventy-seven cents per quarter. Had the former rates remained, the
natural increase of business should have raised it to one hundred and
fifty dollars per quarter. The department, which for some years before
had fallen short of supporting itself, now became a heavy charge upon
the treasury. Whether the present rates will eventually raise a
sufficient revenue to meet the expenditures, remains to be seen. The
greatest difficulty to be overcome is evasion of the post-office laws
and fraud upon the department.
Like many other persons of that period, Mr. Butler did not appreciate
the fact that the best way to prevent evasions of the law is to reduce
the rates of postage so low that it will not pay to run the risk of
fraud.
Captain Welcome Lothrop succeeded Mr. Butler as postmaster, and during
his administration the office was kept in Liberty Hall. Captain Lothrop
was a native of Easton, Massachusetts, and a land-surveyor of some
repute in this neighborhood. Artemas Wood followed him by appointment on
February 22, 1849; but he never entered upon the duties of his office.
He was succeeded by George H. Brown, who had published The Spirit of the
Times--a political newspaper--during the presidential canvass of 1848,
and in this way had become somewhat prominent as a local politician. Mr.
Brown was appointed on May 4, 1849; and during his term the office was
kept in an ell of his dwelling-house, which was situated nearly opposite
to the Orthodox meeting-house. He was afterward the postmaster of Ayer.
Mr. Brown was followed by Theodore Andruss, a native of Orford, New
Hampshire, who was commissioned on April 11, 1853. Mr. Andruss brought
the office back to Liberty Hall, and continued to be the incumbent until
April 22, 1861, when he was succeeded by George W. Fiske. On February
13, 1867, Henry Woodcock was appointed to the position, and the office
was then removed to the Town Hall, where most excellent accommodations
were given to the public.
He was followed on June 11, 1869, by Miss Harriet E. Farnsworth, now
Mrs. Marion Putnam; and she in turn was succeeded on July 2, 1880, by
Mrs. Christina D. (Caryl) Fosdick, the widow of Samuel Woodbury Fosdick,
and the present incumbent.
The office is still kept in the Town Hall, and there is no reason to
think that it will be removed from the spacious and commodious quarters
it now occupies, for a long time to come. Few towns in the Commonwealth
can present such an array of distinguished men among their postmasters
as those of Groton, including, as it does, the names of Judge Dana,
Judge Richardson, Mr. Butler, and Governor Boutwell.
By the new postal law which went into operation on the first of last
October, the postage is now two cents to any part of the United States,
on all letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight. This rate
certainly seems cheap enough, but in time the public will demand the
same service for a cent. Less than forty years ago the charge was five
cents for any distance not exceeding three hundred miles, and ten cents
for any greater distance. This was the rate established by the law which
took effect on July 1, 1845; and it was not changed until July, 1851,
when it was reduced to three cents on single letters, prepaid, or five
cents, if not prepaid, for all distances under three thousand miles. By
the law which went into operation on June 30, 1863, prepayment by stamps
was made compulsory, the rate remaining at three cents; though a special
clause was inserted, by which the letters of soldiers or sailors, then
fighting for the Union in the army or navy, might go without prepayment.
[Footnote 1: Diary and Correspondence of Amos Lawrence, pages 24, 25.]
* * * * *